Dispensationalism

Have we not therefore, good reason to fear disastrous consequences from the fact that the teachers of the new dispensationalism say the Jewish rabbis were right in their interpretation of the prophecies, that the kingdom foretold by the prophets is an earthly kingdom of Jewish character, and that in fact Christ’s mission at that very time was to restore again the earthly Kingdom to Israel? And why then did He not do it?

Literal interpretation has always been a marked feature of Premillennialism; in Dispensationalism it has been carried to an extreme. We have seen that this literalism found its most thoroughgoing expression in the claim that Israel must mean Israel, that it cannot mean the Church, that the Old Testament prophecies regarding Israel concern the earthly Israel, and that the Church was a mystery, unknown to the prophets and first made known to the apostle Paul. Now if the principle of interpretation is adopted that Israel always means Israel, that it does not mean the Church, then it follows of necessity that practically all of our information regarding the millennium will concern a Jewish or Israelitish age.

In considering dispensationalism, it is important to know exactly what we are talking about. The Dispensationalists themselves define a dispensation as a period of time, a concept found nowhere in the Scriptures. One of the earliest American writers on dispensationalism, after Darby, Miller, and their immediate associates, was a Landmark Baptist leader in Arkansas and Texas, Dr. J. R. Graves. In the year 1883 he published a book entitled The Work of Christ Consummated in Seven Dispensations.[…] By far the most influential work on dispensationalism in modern times is the Scofield Reference Bible, published early in the present century.

The most notable contribution was Ryrie’s description of the sine qua non of dispensationalism— one that I memorized on more than one occasion for Dr. John Cawood while a student at Philadelphia College of Bible. Ryrie’s sine qua non of dispensationalism is threefold. 1. Dispensationalism keeps Israel and the Church distinct. 2. The distinction between Israel and the Church emerges from a hermeneutical system that is usually called literal interpretation, namely the employment of a normal or plain interpretation. 3. Dispensationalism understands that the basic purpose of God in all of His dealings with people is to bring glory to Himself through salvation and other purposes.

Dispensationalism offers believers a road map to deal with uncertainty in the world at large. "When somebody says there's a pattern here, and let me tell you what the pattern means, this is what gets a lot of people's attention," said Mr. Weber, the church historian. At this point, dispensationalism's tenets have become so popular that many evangelicals who are in denominations or churches that might not necessarily adhere to dispensationalism have, nevertheless, adopted bits and pieces of it.

Evangelicals have long been influenced by dispensationalism, a theology that promotes a literal reading of biblical prophecy. Many dispensationalists believe Israelites’ return to the Holy Lands is a requirement for the Second Coming of Jesus. When Israeli troops captured the Old City of Jerusalem in June 1967, some saw it as a sign that Jesus was coming. However, dispensational teaching has been waning in mainstream evangelical circles, even as support for a state of Israel has remained strong.

After 1981, he devoted himself to writing, promoting his view of Bible prophecy, family life seminars and political activism. Some fellow conservative Christians pushed back against LaHaye's end-times views, known as premillennial dispensationalism, emphasizing that the books were fictional and should not be read as an exact theological interpretation of the Bible. Still, his books strongly shaped evangelical views of Jesus' Second Coming and popularized the ideas to the broader public. Jenkins called LaHaye a "spiritual giant."

Today, the tenets of dispensationalism are upheld across various portions of conservative evangelical Christianity, though debates linger over the precise division, nomenclature, and number of dispensations.